The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge is a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

over the Rivière des Prairies, between Laval's St. François district and Montreal's

Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles is a suburban borough (''arrondissement'') on the eastern tip of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at the eastern end of the Island of Montreal. Geography The borough is located at ...

borough. Along with the Serge-Marcil Bridge, it is one of two toll bridges in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

Toponymy

Before May 2012, the bridge was called the A25 Bridge. It was then renamed to commemorate

Olivier Charbonneau Olivier Charbonneau (France, Aunis 1613 Île de Montréal 20 November 1687) was a frontiersman who lived in Old Montreal in New France. Charbonneau started his working life as a sewer cleaner in Marans, Charente-Maritime. Widowed twice, by Oz ...

(1613-1687), French frontiersman and first inhabitant of Île Jésus, where the city of Laval now stands.

History

The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge was part of a -long project for the completion of Highway 25, and allows cars, trucks and buses to avoid the

Pie IX Bridge Pie IX Bridge is a bridge in Quebec, spanning the Rivière des Prairies. It connects the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul area of Laval, on Île Jésus, and the borough of Montréal-Nord in Montreal, on the Island of Montreal. The bridge was part of Aut ...

upstream. It also provides a route around the city of Montreal by connecting

Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

to Highway 440, thus allowing motorists to avoid the congested

Metropolitan Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requ ...

. It is the second modern toll bridge built in Quebec and the first ever built in the Montreal Metropolitan Area since the abolition of toll fares on Champlain bridge in 1990. The long anticipated construction began in early 2008, despite a last-ditch attempt by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

to block the project, and the bridge was opened to traffic on May 21, 2011, at 12:30pm ( EDT). It was completed on time and on budget for $500 million.

Characteristics

The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge is a high

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

carrying 6 lanes of

Quebec Autoroute 25 Autoroute 25 (or A-25, also called Autoroute Louis-H.-La Fontaine in Montreal) is an Autoroute in the Lanaudière region of Quebec. It is currently long and services the direct north of Montreal's Metropolitan Area. A-25 has one toll bridge, whi ...

, thus 3 lanes per direction, separated by a central reservation. A cycling path is also available on the east side of the bridge. In June 2011, shortly after the bridge's opening, over 25,000 vehicles were crossing the bridge daily. A year later, in May 2012, over 35,000 vehicles were already crossing the bridge every day, for a total of 12.8 million per year.

Administration and Electronic Toll

The bridge is the property o
Concession A25, S.E.C.
, a

limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited ...

regrouping the

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...

and construction enterprises. Such a partnership is a funding model between the government and a private company. The Olivier Charbonneau Bridge is yet one of the rare infrastructure construction projects using such a funding model. The bridge uses an electronic toll system that allows cars to cross without having to stop at a traditional booth, ultimately reducing traffic. Users can activate an A25 client account a
www.A25.com
and install a transponder (electronic sticker) on their vehicle's windshield. Crossing the bridge without a transponder triggers the system to automatically take a picture of the vehicle's license plate and send an invoice by mail. Users must settle the bridge-crossing toll and the applicable administration fees in the prescribed time, otherwise additional collection charges may be added to the toll. The fee schedule varies on the vehicle's size (over or under 230 cm in length), the crossing time of day and the traffic when over a certain threshold. Pedestrians, cyclists and, since January 1, 2016, electric vehicles can cross the bridge for free.

Gallery

File:QC Hy 25 Bridge groundwork 1.JPG, Groundwork for the main pillars of the bridge, August 2, 2008 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge groundwork 2.JPG, Groundwork for the Montreal-side abutment, August 2, 2008 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge tower crane.JPG, Setting up the tower crane, September 20, 2008 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge Main pillar under construction.JPG, The north pillar going up, December 5, 2008 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge Two pillars under construction.JPG, The pillars are taking shape, August 3, 2009 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge North pillar.JPG, The north pillar is ready to have the cables installed, August 4, 2009 File:QC Hy 25 Bridge North abutment.JPG, The Laval-end abutment, August 4, 2009 File:QC Hy 25 under construction in Laval.JPG, The highway under construction. The overpass shown already carries the

Quebec Gatineau Railway Chemins de fer Québec-Gatineau Inc. (CFQG), in English the Quebec Gatineau Railway is a shortline railway operating the long ex-Canadian Pacific Railway line between Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Laval, Lachute and Gatineau, formerly Hull. I ...

. File:QC Hy 25 Bridge South pillar taking shape.JPG, The south pillar taking shape, May 18, 2010.

References

External links

Official websiteVideo of the project
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place = Rivière des Prairies , bridge = Olivier-Charbonneau Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

, upstream signs = , downstream = Charles de Gaulle Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges in Montreal Toll bridges in Canada Bridges in Laval, Quebec Rivière des Prairies Bridges completed in 2011 Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles Road bridges in Quebec Cable-stayed bridges in Canada Public–private partnership projects in Canada 2011 establishments in Quebec